Absolute Motion
by QuackPower
Summary: Tony Stark is Iron Man. The autonomous system for his armors isn't working and his life sucks. But he is Iron Man. Maybe a fellow engineer (and Bruce's friend) can help with the first issue. Maybe she can help with the second issue too. [Tony/OC] [Slow burn] [Starts with Iron Man 3 and goes on]
1. Bending Moment

**A/N: Hello guys! This has been an idea for a while and I feel like there's not enough Tony/OC stories so here it goes. I know the Pepperony army is big and that's perfectly fine, I respect all ships! But personally I always thought Tony and Pepper were great as friends, but terrible as a couple. Tony Stark is Iron Man, you can't have one without the other, and Pepper calling the armors "just machines", letting him destroy them all for her and needing time in Civil War... And don't even get me started with his lack of tact and gestures towards her. I think it's not a healthy relationship and they both would be better off alone/with someone else. But hey, that's just my opinion.**

 **Anyway, this story starts with IM3 and will go on with CAWS, AoU, CACW and, in the future, with Infinity War.**

 **Let me know what you think! xx**

 **I only own my OC's and blah blah blah. This is fiction. Rated M for cursing and future lemons.**

* * *

 _TINK. TINK. TINK. … TINK. TINK. TINK._

That's the only sound you'll hear in the Malibu mansion nowadays. And only if you go down to the workshop. Not loud obnoxious music coming from hidden speakers, not even JARVIS. Tony Stark refused to talk to his AI since it diagnosed him with an anxiety attack. Which sucked, because he needed JARVIS to continue with the Mark 42 autonomous system. And so while he mopped around trying to come to terms with his miserable life, the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist-PSTD'd restored to do what he did best: tinker.

After the battle with Loki and the chitauri he stayed for a while in New York City, mostly helping to clean up the mess. He signed a contract with the government by which his company would provide all the means necessary to get the city back up and running. That meant money, machinery and workers to clean up the rubble and rebuild what was demolished. Yes, he did it out of guilt. Looking down to the city that saw him grow up from his tower made him cringe. They saved New York from an alien invasion with minimum casualties, but at what cost… Stark Tower had suffered too, so he took advantage of the situation to add some improvements, like a new lab for Banner to do his thing and containment modules for the Hulk, made from poly-tectic adaptive materials that can withstand his blows. At least for a while. Tested.

Busy times signing contracts, doing science with his science bro, and joining the efforts of his fellow citizens to make it all better. For a while it was common to see him and his heavy-construction armors coordinating rescue and cleaning missions. All in all he was feeling quite good. Useful. But as things went back to normal and he had more time to spend with his friends and girlfriend, that's when his life went down the sewer, ironically.

With time to sleep, and not simply taking siestas, came the nightmares. In those, he never came back from the wormhole and into the awaiting arms of the Hulk. He felt the propulsion system of the suit dying, leaving him behind as the missile he carried on his back continued on towards its objective. As JARVIS and his OS powered down so did his mask, leaving his sight limited to thin slits. But it was enough, enough to see the explosion. To see it, but not hear it. Oh, the silence. The eerie and total silence. He was spinning backwards now. There was no more fire. And not going back. He did it. They won. Would they be celebrating? Or would they be looking up to the sky where he disappeared? It didn't matter. He was alone. More alone that he would ever be. Alone for the last time. That should give him some peace, right? It didn't. It was too much. It was too big. Too cold.

Cold creeped inside his armor and claustrophobia constricted his chest. He felt tears freezing in the corners of his eyes. What now? Was he moving at all? He couldn't tell. For how long would this go on? Until he asphyxiated? Until he floated into a celestial body? Death was the only thought crossing his mind in his last moments, and the worst part? It never came.

Those nightmares returned every single night, ruining any possibility for a normal life. Particularly with Pepper. Their relationship was done the very moment he crossed the wormhole. Although the more he thought about it, the more he believed it was doomed from the start. After the Battle of New York they were too busy and barely saw each other. And when they finally had time it went worst. He couldn't sleep, and his trashing around in bed made it so she couldn't sleep either. Before long they both were overtired, snippy and picking fights over nothing. But they kept trying. Going to bed together, night after night, only to end up having the same argument. Those arguments escalated quickly. Some nights she would take her pillow and go to try and sleep in one of the many spare rooms. Sometimes he would be the one leaving and going to the workshop. He figured if he couldn't sleep at least he could spend the time in something useful. Until the fruit of his hard work attacked Pepper when she was trying to wake him from his nightmares.

That was the last time they slept (or tried to) together. And the last time they had sex? Before the Battle of New York. As explained before, first they were too busy, and then they were too tired. They didn't even kiss anymore. They hadn't for a while. Sometimes she tried to approach him, but he was beyond that. He was hiding from the world. Hiding from her. Even Rhodes and Happy were strangers now. His science bro, Bruce Banner, was his only form of human contact. The way everything around him turned upside down he felt he could relate with the constant struggle in the doctor's life. Both of them spent the hours in their labs, barely eating, barely sleeping, consumed by their work. Their hobby. Their obsession. Soon, even Pepper got tired of trying. She wouldn't go down to the workshop anymore. She would walk into the Malibu mansion late at night, after work, and go straight to bed. Hours later, when she left early to deal with Stark Industries, all dressed up like a business woman, he was still tinkering downstairs, and most probably stinking too.

"Ouch! Shit!" – He put his thumb into his mouth after nailing it by accident-. "JARVIS, what time is it?" – He cleaned the excess of grease on his hands with a cloth-. "JARVIS?" –He insisted before realizing he had muted the AI hours ago-. "You can speak now, JARVIS."

"It's half past nine, sir."

"Ok, I'm going to take a shower. DUMM-E, clean up this mess, will you?"

"Should I order some take over?" –The AI asked him as he made his way upstairs two at a time.

"Not hungry."

"But sir-"

"I don't want to hear it JAR."

He strolled into the room he used this days. It was on the ground floor, turning under the stairs, right over the workshop. Honestly, he didn't really use the place to sleep. But this room turned out to be the only safe place in the house other than the workshop. In their last argument, Pepper had followed him there, and he closed the door on her nose with surprising distress. He didn't want her oppressive persona tainting the calming space between those walls. God, when did it all go so wrong…

He stepped into the ensuite bathroom taking off his clothes rather clumsily. He was more tired than he previously thought. He leaned on the faucet, reaching blindly to turn on the shower tap. As the place filled up with steam, he looked up at his own reflection. The bags under his eyes were bad, his hair was a mess, and the muscles of his arms and shoulders were overly pronounced as they used to be when he hammered on plates of armor for far too long. Finally he stepped into the shower, turning his neck side to side, allowing the water to soak every inch of his body, relaxing in its warm caress. He closed his eyes and let it fall directly onto his head and down his back. When he opened them again, he saw the nuclear white of the tiles turn a swirling black and grey with diluted grease. Pepper always freaked out when he stepped into their shower dirty like this. God, she was preppy… He closed his eyes again and exhaled, rubbing his face with his now clean hands. He didn't want to think about her. He didn't want to think about their fake of a relationship. He thought about masturbating, only to look down in frustration to his unresponsive limp cock. He was in his thirties, for fuck's sake, the mere thought of having sex –even if it was with himself- should have him swelling.

He stepped outside, drying his body quickly and walking to the chair where he kept a tank top and trekkie pants. This was something he couldn't do either with Pepper: walk around naked, in his own room. His sad little worm was to stay put and covered unless required. And since when was it sad and little? He used to be proud of it. Why was he undermining himself this way? Could he have plumbed such depths?

"JARVIS, call Doctor Banner."

He sat at the end of the bed, pulling in the little coffee table and opening his laptop. As he waited for a response on the other side of the line he looked outside, to the glimmering path the moon painted over the pacific. He didn't know why he didn't choose this room when moving into the Malibu mansion. Sure, it was smaller than his master bedroom –now Pepper's, when she wasn't spending the night with her mom-, but somehow he liked it better. The bed was on the small side. Yes, it was good for one person, but two wouldn't be able to turn around keeping their distance from the other. The outer wall was made-up of panels of glass, ceiling to floor, like a big curved screen connecting live with the ocean. The floor was a simple sand polished concrete, much like the one in the workshop. Maybe that's why he favored this room among all others.

"Hey, Tony" – the voice coming from his laptop took him out of his musings.

"Hey, Bruce" –he returned lively-. "Look at you! Eating and… not working."

This was the first time he didn't see the lab behind Bruce Banner when he picked up. As Tony, Bruce used to work late nights, and he would always pick up in his white lab coat, complaining about the billionaire interrupting his work. But not today. From what Tony could see, Anger Issues was actually wearing pajamas, chilling in the penthouse living, eating some kind of noodles, and by the reflection on his glasses and the background noise, watching TV.

"Yeah, I figured I could take a break. Work isn't going anywhere, anyhow." –Tony could hear the weariness in Bruce's voice as he picked at his food with the chopsticks.

"Do you need anything, pal? I can have it in the lab first thing in the morning."

"Nah, it's not a problem of resources. I just need to take a break and look at it with a fresh mind. What about you?"

"Same as you? On paper it's ready. But I can't get it to work properly. The propulsion system is erratic. Not smooth enough to try on safely. I need to come up with a new autonomous system. High precision is what I need."

"Tony, turn on the TV. TBS."

Automatically the TV over the drawer turned on – the perks of JARVIS-.

"Are we chilling and Netflix together?" – Tony joked.

"Just watch."

Tony focused his attention on the screen, curious as to why his science bro would interrupt that way their science babbling. It was that late show with the ginger host, Conan. Tony was invited more than once in the past, and he would be probably invited again, but just now his public agenda was closed, he wasn't in the mood for interviews.

The celebrity of the night was sitting in the blue armchair designated for the guests. It was a woman Tony didn't recognize.

 _"I've been wanting to ask, how do you pronounce your name?"_

 _"Like you did before."_

 _"EE-MOH-GEN?"_

 _"Yeah, exactly! I also pronounce it were-my-parents-drunk-when-they-named-me? But that's a bit of a mouthful." –_ She joked making the host and audience laugh.

 _"Were the other kids mean to you because of your name?"_

 _"Of course. Kids can be cruel, and when you have a name that sounds like a nutritional supplement meanness is something that happens."-_ She joked again.

 _"So you go by Immy."_

 _"Yeah, makes life easier."_

The last laughs died down marking the end of the first part of the interview, where host and guest usually broke the ice with a light banter.

 _"You mentioned your parents being drunk when they named you. Did they name you? I mean, you're a well-known orphan. Did you ever meet them?"_

 _"No, I never met my parents. But I know for a fact that my biological mother decided my name before giving me up to the Maria Stark Foundation Hospice."_

Now that drew Tony's attention.

 _"And you never were adopted. You lived there all your life, is that right?"_

 _"Yes, I guess adopting wasn't as much of a popular option thirty years ago as it is now. Few were the lucky ones. Most of us stayed at the hospice until we were off age or had the means to sustain ourselves."_

 _"So when did you leave the hospice behind?"_

 _"Well, I was fifteen when I won the Maria Stark Foundation scholarship for MIT and had to move to Massachusetts."_

 _"Fifteen!" –_ The audience erupted in catcalls.

While her admission at a young age didn't impress Tony –he himself was admitted at the same age-, it peeked his curiosity even more. Who was this chick? Obviously she was famous, she wouldn't be interviewed by this guy if she wasn't. And apparently she was brainy. Was she on his field? Is that how she became a celebrity? He leaned forward unconsciously, his ass dangling precariously over the edge of the bed, to take a closer look at her. She looked younger than him, mid-twenties, maybe. There was a naturalness about her. Her make-up was light and her brown hair was loose, falling in natural waves behind her shoulders with a simple straight parting. She was wearing a black fitted dress to her knees, with a busier-style top. The wide straps, V-neck and subtle paneling created a flattering silhouette, and the dark color enhanced the stormy gray of her eyes. You didn't see many women wearing that kind of dress anymore. It was classy but not boring. Striking but not showy. She wasn't trying. Most celebrities prepared those interviews beforehand, from their answers to the outfit and body language. As someone who fed off this kind of public attention for many years, Tony _knew_. Men wore tight shirts to show off their muscles, and women favored short outfits and lots of cleavage. Even the smiles were rehearsed.

The woman giggling in the screen right now didn't fit in all of that. She oozed candor. Where other people would be worrying about acting pretty she was making silly faces and gesticulating exaggeratedly. She was out of place. This wasn't her kind of thing, and she was going with the flow.

Tony focused again on the interview when he heard his name. Apparently the whole fifteen-and-MIT issue ended up in his persona.

 _"Do people compare you often to Tony Stark?"_

 _"I've read articles that drew some comparisons between the two, yeah, but uh…"-_ she made a face and shook her head no.

 _"You don't think you two are similar in a way?"_

 _"Well, yeah, sure: MIT, genius, Stark Industries, GeoTech…"_ –she listed swatting her hands left and right like it didn't matter-. _"But we specialize in very different fields, and his accomplishments surpass mine by far."_

Wait a minute… GeoTech? This woman was Manfredi? Immy Manfredi? The mind behind the Galilei Project? The automotive satellites? Before he could realize, Tony was up and with his nose barely a feet away from the screen. Things were starting to make sense in his head.

"What are you suggesting, Banner? - He asked with his eyes still on the TV.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just saying. You need high precision. That happens to be her area of expertise."

"So what, I should just call her and ask for help?" – Tony asked sounding slightly angered. Of all his titles, genius was the one he wore with more pride, and the idea of asking someone else's help, with his armors of all things, made him bitter.

"No. _I_ should call her and ask her if _you_ tagging along is acceptable.''

At that Tony snapped around to look at Bruce with an open mouth.

" _You_ should call _her_? – He asked pointing his index finger first at the laptop and then to the TV-. "Banner you sly dirty dog! You have a hot date with the girl of the moment?!"

"It's not like that!" – Bruce clarified quickly, pushing his eyeglasses up his nose flustered-. "She used to be my student."

"That's even dirtier. Did she ever ask nicely for a pass?" – Tony joked earning a scolding face from Bruce-. "Easy, tiger. Just joking."

"I'll call you first thing in the morning."- Banner reached for his own laptop ending the call.

The billionaire was left alone in the dark room. He turned around the chair where the clothes he used as a pajama were before and straddled it, going back to the interview still going on.

 _"Have you ever met the man?"_

 _"No. I saw him a couple of times at company parties when I was working on my internship at Stark Industries, but that's it."_

 _"What would you say to him if you met him tomorrow?"_

 _"Thank you?"_ –She opened her eyes wide like it was the obvious response-. _"You know, thank you for saving the world from an alien invasion and for the arc reactor technology. That makes him two-time world savior, so thank you very much."_ – She finished looking into the camera like she was talking to him.

The crowd cheered and the host agreed with her on the fact that he had certainly earned the pat on the shoulder.

 _"And yet he has encountered opposition when trying to launch his clean energy system. Both from governments and companies. Do you have anything to say about that?"_

 _"Well, it comes with the territory, you know? When you come up with something new your competition will try to make your life miserable to the point where you give up. It doesn't matter, the people want clean, cheap energy. In GeoTech we use Stark Technology as an alternative power source for our satellites in case our own automotive system fails. And arc reactors power our factories, offices and buildings all over the world. To the ones causing trouble for this new type of energy I only have one thing to say: work hard, pay your employees good salaries, invest in research and development and nobody will step up and do your job for you."_

The audience hooted and clapped their agreement while Tony Stark smirked in the silence of his Malibu mansion. She was damn right. It was always nice to hear other great minds approve of your work. He stood up setting aside the chair.

"JARVIS, you up, buddy?"- He asked lounging on the big suede armchair by the window.

"For you always, sir."

"Give me a background check for one Imogen Manfredi." – He took one of his transparent graphene tablets from the side table while the AI loaded the info onto the windows' surface in front of him.

"Imogen Agnes Manfredi…"

"Jeez…"- Tony wrinkled his face at hearing the whole name. She was right to joke about it. It was a bit too much.

"... 28, born in Los Angeles, California. Orphan. Raised by nuns at The Maria Stark Foundation Hospice. Awarded with the Maria Stark Foundation Scholarship at the age of fifteen…"

So long nothing Tony hadn't learn already from the interview.

"What did she do to get the scholarship?"

"She blacked out the western seaboard, sir."

"She what now?" – Tony stopped his scrolling on the tablet.

"According to the records she built her own magnetic induction accelerator inside the hospice's vault. It was a success, but it damaged the electrical grid severely."

"She likes her magnets, doesn't she?"

Tony was admittedly impressed that someone could do such a reckless but genius thing at such short age. He certainly hadn't done anything like that back then. He built DUMM-E instead…

And maybe she didn't save the planet coming up with a source of clean and unlimited energy, but what she did was pretty awesome too. Now, using magnetism to generate mechanical input that was later transformed into energy that could be used to power any system was nothing new. But what she did… Boy that was new. She didn't use magnetism as a means to power a vehicle. Magnetism itself was the vehicle. As he read in the articles that JARVIS was dumping into his tablet, her company was big in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania, where Galilei had been up and running for a while now. It was a global navigation satellite system, but far more advanced than the Russian GLONASS or the American GPS. The Galilei positioning system was high-precision, intended primarily for civilian use –unlike the more military orientated systems of the US and Russia-, and always updated to the second.

"She obtained various degrees, specializing in Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science and Physics. Upon her graduation she was offered an internship program at Stark Industries, which she accepted and completed. After that she enrolled at Culver University, where she obtained her PhD in Biotechnology."

"Wait, back up. She was never hired at Stark Industries? How come?"

He scrolled up and down trying to find a work contract in the company's archive, but he couldn't find any after her internship. It wasn't like his HR Department to just let slip someone with her credentials. Only the best obtained the internship, and it was only a bureaucratic step before the formal and final contract.

"She was offered a position with a six-figure salary in the late Missile Development Program, sir, but she refused."

"Why?"

"There's no information on the matter."

"How many people have refused a job in the history of the company?"

"Just the one."

Tony scoffed and dropped the tablet back onto the side table and slumped against the back cushions of the armchair. People would kill Jesus Christ for a job in Stark Industries and she refused to work with them? He could understand if she refused them to accept a better offer elsewhere, but that wasn't the case.

"After Culver University she moved to Europe where she founded her project. GeoTech went public two years ago, and the Galilei Project is scheduled to reach full operation in 2014 with its effective implementation in the United States. As of today Galilei counts on thirty in-orbit spacecraft, four ground control centers, five telemetry, tracking and control stations, several worldwide distributed mission data uplink stations…"

JARVIS kept informing him on the specifics of Manfredi's company, but Tony wasn't listening anymore. If she went public two years ago it made sense that he didn't recognized her on TV. For the last two years he was too busy being Iron Man full time, trying not to die poisoned by his own arc reactor, dealing with Stark Expo, Vanko, SHIELD, the Avengers… He was out of the party scene and made Pepper CEO of Stark Industries, so of course he missed on Manfredi's public takeoff. What didn't make sense whatsoever was refusing a position in his company or letting the United States for last in her launch campaign. Could those two apparent bad decisions be related? An hour ago he wasn't so sure about setting a meeting but now he was curious about the whole deal. He could give her that. He stood and, with a last look, discarded the information extended on the glass panels moving his hands lazily in the air.

He walked to the bed and lied belly down without a care. His arms open on both sides of his head. The screen behind him finally turned off.

"Imogen." – He whispered in the dark silence with his face squashing against the silky sheets.

He had never met someone with that name before and wasn't sure how to pronounce it.

"Imogen..."


	2. Linear Combination

**Hey everyone! Thank you so much for taking your time to read, fav and review. It means a lot =) I know this comes kinda late, life sucks. But I'm not giving up on this anytime soon. Are you excited for Infinity War? I most certainly am! It's so close! Anyway, I'll respond to your reviews and just let you to read. Let me know what you think! Also feel free to point out any mistakes on my part, English is not my first language and I don't have a beta, so it can happen.**

* * *

 **bellaphant** : Here it is! Sorry for the delay, hope it's worth the wait ^.^

 **Daydreamer003:** Thank you, glad that you liked it =)  
 **ChancellR** : Hell yeah! We need more xD

 **amie94:** Than you so much! Here's a little something! =D

 **Rbenham2:** Wish granted! Hope you like it =)  
 **Corvus Black:** Boy this is gonna be long… XD  
I find that lack of Tony/OC stories weird, considering the character he is, but maybe we are sold to the Pepperony army xd. Anyway, about the age… I always thought it was a shame the MCU didn't start before it did, so they could pick their actors slightly younger. I think 40 is too late to realize you're an asshole XD And characters like Thor or Cap, who are supposed to barely age are hard to sell sometimes. Luckily they nailed whatever technic they used with Hank Pym in Ant Man and Tony in CW, I wish they did back when we got Tony's flashbacks, or even in the original Iron Man. In my humble opinion he looks older there than in Avengers XD Also, recently I read some interviews with people like Feige that kinda shit on the timeline… So, overall, I decided to be loose with ages and details like that that don't really affect the story. Imogen… We could be pronouncing it the same way, who knows, it's the problem with writing, especially in a language like English. I only know one Imogen, from the UK, I try to pronounce it the way she does.  
PhD's and Pym… Another loose thing… As a comic reader I know Tony, Bruce, Hank and blahblahblah have multiple degrees and PhD's, but there's never a definite list. Just depends on the universe or the story, because the writers need that open door. Immy's PhD is in Biotechnology, I want her character more focused on certain things for story purposes. Also, she doesn't know Hank Pym personally. We already know the Stark-Pym relationship isn't the best, and I don't want Immy to be the magical link between characters. I hope to hear more nitpicking of yours along the way XD

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"What are we doing here, Banner?"

They were in New York City, waiting by the river like fools. As promised, Bruce called him first thing in the morning. Tony wasn't even awake, which was weird in itself. Bruce told him they were meant to meet for brunch in New York, and ''don't dress up''. Suddenly he had to cross the country for brunch, that left him without time to even take a morning shower, but he figured he'd be alright since he showered the night before. He dressed in a hurry with the first things he took from the drawer: white t-shirt, black cargo pants and a hoodie. All the while instructing JARVIS to have his private jet ready and make him one of those green shakes to carry out.

 _Flashback_

He arrived to the airport, driving his Audi R8 like a madman and drinking from a straw. Once inside the jet he made himself comfortable and googled this _Immy_ chick. Yes, he already knew her credentials, but he was about to meet her personally, he was supposed to tell her things about Iron Man, and while he trusted Bruce's judgement, he preferred to see for himself what kind of person she was. And boy, it was fun to discover. He read a bunch of articles about her private life, where reporters tried to dig into her past talking to fellow classmates, teachers and even the nuns at the foundation's hospice. They all described her as quiet and shy. Some went as far as to talk about _unhealthy shyness_. As he watched her playing games and being funny in TV shows during her tours in Europe and Asia, after reading those articles, her personality came into place before his eyes. Yes, he was pretty sure that she used to be extremely shy, and despite growing out of it through the years, there were remnants of it in her mannerisms. Like the way she covered her face whenever she did or said something extremely silly, or how she pushed her hair forward to try to hide the redness in her ears when someone complimented her. All in all, that fish out of the water vibe she projected sometimes in public added to her liking. And what was there not to like? She had a straight flush in her hands: a single woman of humble origins that started a growing empire by her own merits in a male-dominated field. Additionally, she was a kind person that went about her life buying coffee for random people because she felt bad that she had stepped on their toes while in the queue. Of course people liked her –and posted about it-.

She had her own social media that she managed herself, and then there were the fans: video compilations of her funniest moments, fan accounts, forums, blogs… And Manfredi seemed to interact with all of them pretty often. The only shade thrown at her that he found was coming from a bunch of noisy reporters that crossed the line trying to get info about her love life and got burned publicly for it. Now, her smiles looked real, Tony didn't feel the Romanov vibe from her, but watching her lash out at those reporters settled his nerves. He didn't trust people without a dark side. And talking about her love life: it wasn't extensive. There were pictures of her on vacations and parties with a couple of guys years ago, but nothing serious besides Jim, her executive assistant, who she had dated for a couple of years before splitting in good terms a few months ago. According to the paparazzi _"Immy and Jim remain good friends and professional partners after mutually deciding to put an end to their romantic relationship."_ He closed those articles, they hit too close to home, and went back to her social media. He scrolled through the pictures. Some of them were just silly photos of her stuffing a whole filled doughnut inside her mouth, saying hi to her fans from a balcony, shaking hands with tv hosts… He only stopped for a moment in the most recent ones. They were from last night, in New York, having fun with Jane, Thor's girlfriend, and her very annoying assistant, Darcy.

"Hey, JAR, what's the connection between Manfredi and Jane Foster?"

"Miss Manfredi provided secure location for Doctor Foster and Miss Lewis in her observatory in Norway during the Battle of new York, sir."

"I thought that was SHIELD…"

"It was. Miss Manfredi owns the observatory and was the one that hired Doctor Foster as a consultant at the request of SHIELD."

"Uhm…"

He didn't like that. Fucking SHIELD, they were everywhere.

"Anything else between SHIELD and her from the archives you hacked from the helicarrier?"

If a more profound bound existed between the agency and Manfredi it would be there, just as phase two.

"Miss Manfredi's name is in the list of potential threats. They approached her after her graduation with unsuccessful results."

"Approach her about what?"

"Unclear."

And yet another question to the list, although he had a feeling they were interested in her technology.

When the jet finally landed in NYC, a big guy he didn't know was waiting for him. Tony couldn't remember the fella's name, but he said he was there on behalf of Miss Manfredi, so he followed him to an amphibian aircraft full of more big guys. He went with the flow, but once the door closed behind him he felt uneasy. He'd been abducted before, what was stopping these men from doing it again? That was one of the many reasons why he needed his armors up and ready at any moment. He never wanted to feel vulnerable again. For a moment he thought he was about to have another attack, but he managed to keep his shit together, although not without earning a couple of weird looks. Ten minutes later he was dropped off in one of the skyports by the east side of the Hudson, where Bruce was already waiting for him.

 _End Flashback_

"Patience is a virtue, Tony"- was the only response he got from Bruce.

The scientist was leaning on the street railing, with his ankles crossed and his hands inside his pockets.

"Not one of mine."- Tony muttered-."I didn't know you owned any sweats."

It was strange to see Bruce in sportswear.

"Yeah, I don't use them very often anymore."

"Not good for your skin tone?"

Tony couldn't help himself. He was always joking about the other guy around Bruce, poking him and looking at him expectantly like he really wanted to trigger the gamma side. And Bruce allowed it to happen because, in time, he learnt that Tony meant no harm. He didn't mean to remind him how much of a weirdo he was. It was just Tony's way of normalizing something that wasn't normal.

"Tony, I need to know that you'll behave."

"Oh, come on… You sound like my old man."

"You're my friend, "–Bruce carried on like he hadn't heard Tony-"but she's my friend too. I don't want to be in a weird position."

"Alright, alright! Scout's honor. What did you tell her, anyway? Last night you didn't sound so sure she'd agree to meet."

"I told her you wanted to consult her about a private project."

"And?"

"And here we are…"

As Tony was about to open his mouth again, a navy car pulled up to the curb. The driver's window rolled down to reveal a chick with dark sunglasses that she slid onto her head.

"Need a lift?" – Was all she said motioning for them to get in the car.

Bruce didn't hesitate, going directly for the back door. He did his best over the phone, reassuring her about the nature of their meeting. Now it was up to Tony to convince her to help him. She turned around in her seat to greet him as Tony walked around the hood of the car to get to the co-pilot seat. He put the seat belt on and took a good look at her as she finished talking with Bruce. She looked as casual as they did, wearing black leggings and a grey oversized sweater.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Stark. And thank you for saving us from alien invasions and the electric power industry."- She kept her promise of a thank you as she put her glasses back down.-"And for paying for my studies and putting a roof over my head and food on my table. Sorry,"-she laughed out loud- "am I babbling?"

"It's ok to be grateful, Immy."- Bruce reassured her from the back seat.

"Yeah, sure, the foundation was my parent's thing, anyway."  
Tony dismissed her comment. He knew how to deal with bootlickers, but this kind of genuine gratitude made him uncomfortable. She pulled back into traffic in silence, and he was glad she didn't push it after his unceremonious dismissal. Still he opened his mouth before giving her a chance.

"So, where are we going? Is this a thing you do often? Rushing people across the country _for brunch_?"

Tony made a conscious effort to avoid Banner in the rear-view mirror, he could imagine his ' _really? right after promising me?'_ face, and that was enough. Immy, on the other hand, observed the chagrin in her former professor/current friend's face with a big smile of her own.

"Only the ones with a private jet"- she responded stopping by a red light and taking the opportunity to take a good look at him.

Despite the seatbelt he was almost leaning with his back against the door. He looked all casual and his eyes were fixed on her face.

"I can't see you"- he motioned over his own face, clearly referencing her glasses-. "It's rude. You should take them off."

Did she take them off? No. In fact she took a couple of seconds that felt way longer just to observe him. And then she fucking smirked like he was the funniest shit on earth. No, really, Tony saw her tongue poking inside her cheeks like she was trying her hardest not to laugh in his face. He almost wanted to slap her.

"You should hope I don't."-She finally said putting her eyes back on the road and driving once again as the car behind them honked-. "I'm as short-sighted as they come."

"Stop embarrassing yourself, Tony."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I embarrassing you in front of your girlfriend?"  
"No one is embarrassing nobody." – She elevated her voice over the science bro's bickering-. "But I do detect some animosity, Mr. Stark."

"It's Tony"- he corrected her-. "And of course I'm on the defensive here. I was dragged by men in black inside a car with a hooded stranger. Should I smile and hand you over a copy of my patents?"

"Dramatic much…" –Bruce mumbled from the backs seat making her laugh.

"We all like Burger King, don't we? I feel like killing myself from the inside..." She deadpanned rolling down her window. – "Cheeseburgers?"

She had stopped at a drive thru.

''No pickles."- Tony told her as someone asked for their order from the other side of the com, forgetting all about his own tantrum at the idea of cheeseburgers.

"Six cheeseburgers. No pickles. And three large French fries"- she ordered.

 _"Would you like to add drinks?"_

She turned back to them and asked.

"Shake?"

"Oreo."- Tony nodded.

"Just water for me." –Was Banner's boring response that earned him a couple of raised eyebrows.

"Two large Oreo shakes and a bottle of water. Nothing else."- She finished

 _"It'll be $25.78. Just pull around and thank you."_

As she did pull over she asked Tony to hand her her wallet from the glove compartment, which he did. He also took it to himself to rummage around said wallet while she paid and passed the bags full of calories back to Bruce.

"Tony…" – Bruce warned him feeling mortified.

"It's ok, Bruce, it's just a wallet"- she reassured him.

Her lack of response to his blatant privacy violation did the trick, as he put the wallet back where it belonged. It was a pretty boring wallet, anyway, no gym card, no potential booty call number, no pictures, not even condoms…

"Are you as boring as your wallet?"

She laughed again. He was starting to think it was impossible to offend her.

"You could say I've become so."

He had no idea what she meant by that, but now she had a kind of sad smirk on her face, and Bruce was looking out the window with his jaw twitching, so he decided to shut the hell up, he knew when he had pushed a button, even if he wasn't in on the joke.

He looked outside. They were in Upper Manhattan, past Harlem and Sugar Hill. She took 177th Street before Hudson Heights and headed west through New York State Route 9A and continued north all the way to Fort Tryon Park, where she parked by a rocky wall and got out without a word. Tony closed the car's door and looked around, almost expecting to see more men in black among the bushes.

"Tony"- Bruce called him over his shoulder.

While he was being paranoid, the other two had started walking, so the billionaire had to take a few quick steps to get to them. Banner was placidly strolling with his hands in his pockets, she was holding his arm. Both smiling at each other and talking quietly. God, he was feeling like a third wheel. And they kept walking and walking, under tunnels, up stairs… The place was silent as the grave, they barely crossed a couple of runners, and he had no idea where they were going.

"Guys,"- he called-"benches, we can sit and actually eat."

"Just a little further" – she called back not even turning.

And she was right. A few steps later he could see their path seemed to end in a gazebo. They walked into the structure. Banner sat onto one of the eight half walls handing Immy out some of the fast food as she sat next to him while Tony kept looking around.

"What are you looking for?" – She asked Tony handing him two burgers.

"More men in black?" – He answered reaching for the food.

"My own private security detail. Anvil, you've heard of them?"

Tony nodded.

"I'm not a fan,"-she went on-"but I'm sensible enough to know it's necessary."

If Tony could sympathize with something it was the need of security. There was a time when he thought himself untouchable, only to end a prisoner in an afghan cave.

"Yet I was surrounded by airmen when I was abducted."

He finally took a seat on the same wall as them, keeping his distance, but facing her.

"Oh, I know." – She said handing him his shake and fries. - "It was everywhere, every hour of the day."

They ate in a comfortable silence for a while. Tony even allowed himself to rest his back against the pillar behind him and close his eyes as he chewed the last bite of his second burger. Maybe he should find time to escape to places like this more often. He was a big city kind of guy all his life, but it didn't seem to click very well with him lately. The noise, and the people… For the first time in a long time stress wasn't at the forefront of his mind waiting to rear its ugly head. The birds chirped, the trees smelled good…

"That's disgusting…"

Banner's voice and Immy's laugher brought him back to the present. He opened his eyes and saw Bruce cringing at her for dipping fries in her shake, which, to Bruce's chagrin, only encouraged her to do it more and more exaggeratedly. He smiled watching Bruce interact with her. He had joked about them dating, and it could look like that, certainly, the way she took his arm and all. But right now they were bickering like siblings. Anyway, watching her munch on her concoction made him crave the same, and so he dipped a couple of fries in. His father used to cringe at him too whenever he did this…

"So… Bruce tells me you want my expert opinion about something."  
"Yeah, about that... I have a personal question first."

"Shoot."  
"Why did you refuse that job offer Stark Industries made you years ago?"

"I had my own project in mind."

"Did your project require you to flee the country the very day your internship contract expired?"

"You've done your homework, haven't you?"

The sudden bitterness in her voice took him by surprise, but before he could think much of it she started talking again.

"The first Wednesday of every month we used to put together this think tanks where we talked about side projects or any crazy idea we came up with. By _we_ I mean the interns in Stark Industries. Most of the time it was more sci-fi than actual science." –She half laughed half scoffed-. "Hyped nerds having a good time, you know?" – she finally looked at him.

Tony nodded lightly, urging her to go on.

"Anyway, back then I was already developing a first draft for Galilei in my free time. It was finally coming together. So, it was the first Wednesday of the month again, and I decided to talk about Galilei and its potential applications with my fellow nerds. Of course nothing detailed, this was _my_ baby."

She stopped talking for a few seconds and started retrieving their junk inside the Burger King bag.

"When I was done Obadiah Stane was at the end of the room clapping. He came over me, put his arm around my shoulders and smiled like we were family or something. I didn't know the guy! He told everyone how _this_ was the future. Weapons in orbit, kinetic bombardment, no margin of error. I wanted to vomit."

She looked like she wanted to vomit now.

"From then on I started to bump on him way too often. He did a good job acting casual at first, but soon he started making questions about _this little project_ of mine, giving me ideas… He knew too many details. Details he shouldn't know. Two weeks before my contract expired I received that job offer from the Missile Program. That very same day I started to fill applications for jobs over Europe."

 _SLURRRRRP-_

Bruce broke their gaze slurping noisily on her shake.

"Sorry…"- He reddened.

"It's good, huh?" – She laughed pinching his cheeks.

Tony spaced out, thinking about what she just told him. His stomach churned hearing Obadiah's name. And yeah, he believed her. How could he not after his own experience with the man. Acting all fatherly after trying to have Tony killed, and then stealing the only thing that kept him alive to make a new generation of weapons with it. There was no doubt in his mind that the very moment Obadiah Stane took a whiff of the potential of her project he had broken all kinds of laws to know more. Hell, he was surprised she was alive after catching his attention. Definitely there had to be more to the story. No way had she made it out of the States without Stane trying something… But that was a conversation for another time. He had poked around enough for one day.

"I'm working on an autonomous system for the Iron Man armors."- He blurted.

Her head whipped around instantly. She wasn't expecting him to want to talk about the armors, that's for sure. Tony shifted his gaze towards Banner for a second. Not that he didn't trust him, he certainly did, but her reaction confirmed that Bruce didn't give her any details about the nature of their meeting. On that note he couldn't blame her for trying to be as discreet as possible. None of them needed the paparazzi coming up with crazy theories.

"That's always been the problem with the Iron Man gig."– He continued-. "It's cumbersome. I tried carrying it in a case, but that's still ineffective, and heavy even when I make it lighter than the regular armor, and someone could steal it."- He listed some of the most obvious suitcase cons-."Then I tried the whole autonomous thing with an undersuit, also very inconvenient, not to mention unflattering. Right now I'm working on telepresence. I have this device" – he gestured around his head- "that allows me to operate the suit remotely, but-"

"You want the armor to come to you whenever you need it." – She interrupted him catching up with his reasoning. - "So what's the problem, exactly?"

"Precision, for starters. I have the bruises to prove it."

"What else?"

That question he didn't answer that easily. It was still hard to think about what could have happened. It was harder to voice it.

"One of the armors attacked Pepper when he was having a nightmare" – Bruce barged into the conversation watching the strain in Tony's face.

"Well, we can't have the armor smashing you to death or hurting people every time you stub your toe…" – she deadpanned.

"I'm working on it. I'm recalibrating the interface-"–Tony rushed to explain only for her to turn towards Bruce and completely ignore him.

"The nightmares, punctual or recurrent?"

"Recurrent, definitely."

"I'd really appreciate it if you stopped airing my issues, thank you."

"How exactly are you working on it?" – She asked him with a sarcastic tone he didn't like.

"I was trying to tell you. I'm recalibrating the interface to ignore theta and hi-beta brainwaves-"

"That would make it worse. You just need to stop ignoring infra-low."

"What?"

"Infra-low brainwaves. They are very slow, difficult to detect. Under five hertz. Luckily for you I have a little something, a very _very_ sensitive electrode merger. You can have it. Use it in a day to day basis with your headset, that way we should be able to map properly your brain activity."

"And that's it?" – He asked half surprised half excited.

"No, that's not it. It's a prototype. I never finished it. It should be a start, but to properly link you to the suits we'll need to go invasive."  
"Invasive brain-computer interface."  
"Yes. Oscillatory activity can be reliably detected through the scalp, but it weakens the electric signal, and we don't won't any lag, do we?"

"No we don't." – Tony leaned forward. She had his full attention now.  
"Correct me if I'm wrong,"- Bruce inferred- "but are you seriously considering the idea of implanting electrodes in your brain?"

"Actually we could do it from the base of the skull. Still invasive, but no major surgery needed." – She added on making Tony smirk and Bruce shake his head no.

It's _so_ on…

* * *

 **How did you like it? It was actually longer, but I cut this part here, to try and make the chapters the same, so I guess I have the next one started and it shouldn't take me long. And yeah, we'll get some references to the TV side of the MCU here and there, did you catch this one?. Let me know your thoughts!**


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